Do We Love That For You?

Hope equals Esperanza

• Heather and Zia • Season 1 • Episode 3

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Did you love that for us?

Two friends swap stories about a jarring iPhone update, older parents navigating new tech, and the tender, funny realities of being an only child versus growing up in a big family. Winter arrives with live tree needles, a quarter‑mile icy driveway, missed dumpster pickups, coyotes, and a Santa parade that melts the noise.

• iPhone update friction, button remaps, screenshot changes
• parents with legacy phones and the cost of no updates
• voicemail as memory and teaching with annotated screenshots
• only child boundaries versus sibling negotiation
• fairness in parenting and avoiding favoritism
• birthdays near holidays and keeping celebrations distinct
• live versus artificial trees, clutter and allergies
• snow, plows, gravel driveways, and delivery workarounds
• coyotes at dawn, dogs on deck, shifting winter wildlife
• Santa runs, neighborhood traditions, and lighthearted wrap‑up

Tune in next week to see who our secret guest is

Heather:

Hey! How's everybody doing today? This is episode three of Do We Love That For You? Do we I'm Heather?

Zia:

Do we love that for you?

Heather:

I don't know. Today we'll tell. I'm Heather. Who are you? Oh, I'm Z. Welcome back. Yes, welcome back. So, as you guys all know, we keep our little pages, our um Apple pages available for what we're gonna talk about. But I'm throwing something in quick on the top. Did you do the new download for the new iPhone? Well, I got a new iPhone.

Zia:

Oh my gosh. So you have the new download. Yes, yes, I do. It is kind of cool. Um, just following around because my camera was broken, remember? Everybody was getting videos.

Heather:

I do.

Zia:

Yeah, so Margaret kind of my daughter star kind of advocated for me and she said, Oh, um, excuse me, um, can you get mom a new phone due to uh uh her sending me videos and it's taking up space on my phone? Yeah, that is how that works, yeah.

Heather:

But I have to tell you, because you got the update with the new phone, so for you it was all new. For me, I woke up to this update. Oh and I'm not gonna lie, I am not very happy. So for you, you think this is all the way it came. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It didn't come that way.

Zia:

Oh, geez.

Heather:

No.

Zia:

So you're at 26, whatever. I think so. Yeah.

Heather:

Yeah, it updated the other night, and then my watch updated, and now it is the liquid blast. And so that updated first. Oh, see, no, mine updated this morning. My phone updated two days ago, and then my watch updated this morning. So, but my biggest issue is is um I screenshot everything on my phone. Oh, yeah. And before I would just screenshot it and it would just, you know, go poof up that it took the screenshot and then the picture would just disappear. Now I have to click the little check mark and then save it as a photo. So what used to be a simple little one-step thing is now three steps just to take a screenshot.

Zia:

Yep. Yep. So, like on my phone now, I have a separate camera button on the side. Yeah. So oh, with the bottom. That's a little tricky for me right now. Yeah, because I I'm talking on the phone and my thumb is right there, and I'm like, Am I taking pictures while I'm speaking on the phone? Yes, you are taking pictures of your ear.

Heather:

Yes, I know. You can adjust that. Okay. So I have it so that it's still pressible, but it's um a double press now. I think I think you can make it a double. I I there's a change you can make in it, and I also took it so that it doesn't zoom. Uh for me now, when I do that, I can use that as the picture button. So I can use that to take the picture. Perfect. Um, but I think I think mine is a double click to make it turn on. It might not be. I might have just taken enough earshots that so you got the new foam between mine and this one, I think.

Zia:

What do you have? Yes. I have the 16?

Heather:

16. Okay, so I have the 16 for my birthday. So you're right. So you're a little bit ahead, which is why I'm saying I'm not sure if your button can do that. But I had the 12. Yes.

Zia:

You did have a I was very far back because I was waiting for the 21 and Michael said, you know, that's probably five years out. So you need a new phone. Um, a lot of us do that. A lot of us don't do that. You know my lucky numbers, so I can't, I can't, I can't do it again.

Heather:

Yeah, well now you have now you have the 17. Yeah. So you can wait now and get the 21. Your next one can be the 21.

Zia:

My next one, yep.

Heather:

And I'll have two more in between that.

Zia:

That's right. Which normally I would, but when I got the 12, I was like, I'm not letting go of this one.

Heather:

You did hold on to my mom and my dad still have a home button.

Zia:

Okay, so my dad and his friend um actually has my my mom Karen's old phone, which I believe is a five.

Heather:

Oh.

Zia:

And I think my dad just last year got a 16 because he was like, I need to upgrade because he was on a fiver.

Heather:

He went from a five to a 16. He did. Wow, his brain is probably still rolling around trying to even figure out how to so good, so good.

Zia:

Like I he will ask me a question and I will take pictures, uh, screenshots, I'll circle it with my little note pen on there. And that's not steps. Yeah, I go through steps for him, and he does each picture what it says. And he he's a good learner when I show him how to do it, and he's like uh 84. So does a great job, very smart man.

Heather:

Yeah, that's awesome. So that's just a little older than my parents. Um, but my mom refuses, she does not want to lose her home screen. Um but they have, I think they have the S E. Okay. The first S E. Yes, yes. So um or whatever that number was. I think that's seven or eight, I think, even. But they have that. I know they don't get updates anymore, which stinks because we can't do a lot of stuff when we do group texting because yeah we can't include them, but or we can't, you know, add them into the different things we're doing or whatever. So it's a little bit annoying, but right, right. Well, their family friends have a new phone.

Zia:

Yeah, their family friend, uh, my dad and my mom Karen, um they uh gave my mom Karen's phone to him when she had passed, and he never changed the voicemail on it. So when he, you know, if I call him, it's my mom Karen's voice. So he always does give me the option, you know, if you want to just hear her, just call me or text me and tell me you're calling just to hear her, and then I won't answer the phone. So that is a that is a little benefit to have a family friend get a phone. So yeah.

Heather:

Yes, oh my gosh, I love that.

Zia:

I love that for you. Thank you. And I do use that option here and there.

Heather:

I'm sure you do. Well, why don't we jump around on our topics then, since we're talking about our parents and our siblings, and well, we're not talking about siblings yet, but we're talking about our parents, so why don't we just hit the family?

Zia:

All right, so I had an interesting little chat with a kindergarten friend, and um he walked in yesterday and he said, Missy, do you have a brother? And I said, No, I do not have a brother. Do you have a sister? Nope, don't have a sister. You got a mama? I said, Yes, I have a mama. Do you have a dad? Oh wait, I think we're having technical difficulties here. He's like, hang on.

Heather:

He goes, Well you're frozen on my side. You're frozen on my side. I'm not sure what happened.

Zia:

Your screen is black.

Heather:

Yeah.

Zia:

Oh, uh oh. So are we good? I yeah, I hear you. Okay, okay. Um, so I said, um he goes, why don't you have a brother? I said, Um, my mom never gave me one. Um, why don't you have a sister? I said, well, she never gave me one of those either. So he said, Where's your mama? I said, uh, not around. I said, and um, where's your dad? I said, Oh, Pennsylvania. Uh he said, Okay. And I said, Is that it? Yeah, I don't understand why you don't have brother and sister. Why don't you get one of those? So it brought up something funny that you know, like how yeah, I how this little guy is that interested in brothers and sisters and siblings and moms and dads and where they went. And um you know, and I was like, okay, this is very interesting. So I I said I'll bring it up today because you know, I don't think as just being an only child or having siblings, it's an everyday thought of who do you have, who don't you have, right? You know, where's your parents, where are you where are they not, you know? Right, and or even who's your parents think about it. This is important. Oh my god. Absolutely. So he really brought a thought to my mind of like, no, I don't and the other kids, you know, that are standing there, they all had brothers and sisters, and you're thinking about like, I don't know, maybe twenty kids, maybe if not more, um, all said that they had siblings, and I'm the only one standing there saying I don't have any. Right, right. So and that's that's something that go ahead. No, it's like do you do you think about that? No, because you know you have siblings, I don't. Um then I had an only child.

Heather:

I have an only child, and you have multiple children.

Zia:

I don't, right, right, yeah, so like balance right. And like my husband came from a big family. Um, did Rich come from a big family?

Heather:

Rich he has uh no, he's one of three. He's the oldest of three. Okay, all right, all right. He's his his dad, he's the oldest of three, so yeah. But it is funny because um, like I didn't want just one child, I wanted to have multiple, but life threw me. Yeah, the the apples it threw me, and I took what I got. And I love my one my only child. My husband, Rich, has three uh three kids. So I now have four. Granted, they're all grown adults, but that's okay. I still they're still my kids. I still have been with them. Yep. Right. I still have been with them for the 12 years Rich and I have been together. So so yeah, so we have the only child, but I can remember Eliza coming home a few times and talking about her life if she had siblings. For example, my my Eliza went to a private school. And at one point, she was she was complaining about being in a private school and being not as well-to-do as some of the other kids in the school. And and I pointed out to her that that's a correct statement, but she's in a in a private school. She could be in public school and have five or six siblings, and she was like, Well, I don't want that either. And I'm like, Well, I I'm not sure what to give you there, but she on occasion did ask for siblings, not often, she really embraced the only child, um, which surprised me because yeah, I I feel I did too.

Zia:

I I was not one to shy away to tell people I didn't have any siblings. Yeah.

Heather:

So I wonder if that's a thing, because I used to wish to be an only child. I was the youngest. Yeah. I was the youngest and the only girl. So I have two biological brothers, and then my dad comes with three boys, and we're actually very similar to the Brady bunches, and we're all the same ages. So my dad and my mom had babies the same year, basically. And my parents, my mom and my dad didn't get together until I was an adult, but they're old high school sweethearts, so it's an awesome story. Maybe one day with their permission, I'll tell the story. Um but so I grew up with two older brothers, and I was the youngest and the only girl. And there were so many times I wished I was an only child. Um I have nothing against having brothers, but there were times when I I would say, you know, if I was an only child, I wouldn't have to have this or get this, or you know, because we used to get we used to get a two-liter bottle of soda, and that was our soda for the week. Yep. And if you finished it ahead of time, you were out of luck. And and I can remember my brothers trying to bribe me for my soda, and I can remember trying to bribe my brothers for soda, and yeah, and you know, but like Eliza never had that.

Zia:

Yeah. So with with that, like I of course, you know, I didn't have to share. Um, but when I lived with my grandparents, um, my you know, I got what I needed, I got what I wanted, but I wasn't overly spoiled. Um like my grandfather, you know, I had a I had chores around the house. Um, I had to work for the things. Um, you know, and my grandparents uh really they they raised the heck out of me um to know, you know, this this is not gonna stand if you're in real society. Um so you better not act that way. But I feel like when when I um my mom Joyce had a dance studio, I would go down to the studio and that was like my extended family. So I had like a hundred, you know, sisters, older, younger, you know. Um they were always taking care of me. Um a few were my babysitters and I still keep in touch with them. Um yeah, so I mean I see them every summer, quite a few of them. Um, but one uh I I see ritually every summer. I see her all the time. And uh but maybe with her permission I will, you know, tell uh the story about her too. Um, but yeah, it's like I I think I gained like a um I don't know, like a sacredness to letting people in your life being an only child because you you don't have that, and then it's like, oh, do I really want this person that close to me? Right. You know, um a little bit of uh caution because of that, I feel.

Heather:

Yeah, I feel Eliza's the same way. I feel like she's more cautious about who who is in her inner circle, yep, and and and who she who she interacts with and how she interacts with them. I I feel like there is a a wall there. Yeah, and then I just not a bad wall though.

Zia:

No, no, it's just you're just a little bit more cautious because you haven't had to do certain things with siblings.

Heather:

And where whether I wanted whether I wanted, you know, Brian over or not, Brian came over to play with my brother, and either I played with them or I played by myself. I had no choice, and I just made up the name Brian. There's nobody named Brian.

Zia:

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yep. But yeah, so I think my kids, I think I raised them. Well, Michael always says I raised them kind of like um three only children. Um, because you, you know, if they not none of them do the same thing. Um, they're all went different directions with careers and you know life. And um they, you know, if when we would go to the store, you know, unless it was something for like, oh, I've I just do this and I need this to buy for today, um everybody was like, We we're all going for shoes. So you you e everybody gets the shoes, and you know, if we're gonna go to the store for a present, then everybody gets the present. So I kind of like did only children three times together, you know.

Heather:

I I don't I don't really think that's accurate because that's the way we were when I grew up. So we when we needed shopping, granted, I went to a different store than my brothers did. But if it was shoe day, we all went and got shoes. And and and maybe I went the next day because I had to go to a different store, but we all got shoes on the same day. We all went school shopping on the same day. We all did that. And me and my my two brothers, we all do different things. None of us have the same career path at all. The only similarity is my eldest brother and I both did the military. Okay. Um, but after that, totally different paths. So I'm not sure. I'm not sure that that's so that might be an accurate statement. I think that's a multi-child thing because okay, think about it. Because I have if you bought you bought star shoes, your other two children would be upset. Right. In theory, right? Yeah. So you would go by all of them.

Zia:

So I don't think I did it. Because I've heard of families that growing up was like, oh, my brother got shoes, and I didn't, and my mom always favorites him all the things. Yeah, right. So it's like some of the kids in the school, even. Yeah. Yeah. I was not gonna be that parent that did that. It was like, okay, you you know, your shoes are looking a little shabby.

Heather:

Um yours are gonna be shabby, and yours are pristine, but let's get shoes for everyone.

Zia:

Let's get shoes, right? Yeah, absolutely.

Heather:

No, it's true. I no, I I don't think you I don't think you raised three only children. I think you raised them the right way because there are certain things you have to do in a group. Well, thank you, Heather. Parenting tips from Heather.

Zia:

That's right, that's right.

Heather:

But uh, siblings are a crazy topic. Speaking, yeah, yeah. Go ahead. Well, I was gonna say, speaking of siblings, yeah, um, how's your holiday decorating going? Well, I'm not gonna say holiday because I do Christmas, so I'm not a holiday person. I do Christmas, so how's your Christmas decorating doing?

Zia:

Um, well, my tree uh is currently in a bag sitting in front of me as I'm speaking to you. Um it looks great horizontally. No, okay. It has new. Is it brown or black or uh it's in a gray bag we have? Oh, a gray bag, right? Yeah, yeah. So little and it has a red zipper, so it's very holiday. Oh, so it's holiday-ish. You're getting there. Yep. So um, yeah, I just have to move a few things around. And I did talk to my granddaughter yesterday, and she's like, I said, Oh, I love your tree. And she said, Thank you. She goes, I see your tree. And I said, Oh god, I have to put the tree up. Yep. So yeah, I mean, when you have a two-year-old asking, where's your tree? Yeah, I put the tree up. Yep. So I will be fighting that today.

Heather:

Ooh. Can you send me pictures?

Zia:

Oh, I will, I will, um, because that's a miracle in itself. Um that's just it's it's not that it's hard to decorate for me. It's just oh, I think the effort put forward to do it all the time. It's like, you know, it's different when you're an adult-only house. Absolutely. That too. Yep. It's just it's different. Yeah. But now it's like I have to think about when the grandkids come over and see the tree. And you know, that's uh but then I don't like looking at it the whole time. Like I would love to just put it up for the day they see the tree and take it back down. That would be ideal for me. That would be ideal for me. And here I

Heather:

I put my tree up on typically I put mine up the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

Zia:

Oh wow, see?

Heather:

And I take it down the s the Saturday after New Year's.

Zia:

Okay. So I think the problem is too, with my birthday being so close to Christmas, you know, I know I never wanted the tree up for my birthday. Um and my parents did try to take it down uh so it didn't combine that way. And um my mom Karen, she had a in they lived in Kentucky at one point, and um when they uh they had a Christmas tree up all year in one room so they didn't have to take it down. And did they decorate it for the holidays? Beautiful tree. It no, it was always a Christmas tree in the one room. Oh my gosh, and it was like she had her collection on it, you know. They collected certain um ornaments, so they were on the tree, and it is a beautiful tree. Um and uh not that they wouldn't use the room, but you know, it was it was just a beautiful tree all the time. And she if she did find an ornament, you know, she could possibly put it right back up there when she got it and wouldn't have to pack it. But that's cool. Um she, you know, she was always the person to send me a gift that was like, you know, oh, this is um not Christmas, this is your birthday. Here are your Christmas wrapped presents, and this is your birthday wrapped present. So it was, yeah. And I know I keep going back and forth. People are probably confused, they're like, she says mom Karen, she says mom Joyce. Um, my mom Joyce is my biological mom, and my mom Karen is my like adopted mom. So that's why you're getting confused. We'll talk about that one day too.

Heather:

But um, it's a topic all in itself, all in itself, yeah.

Zia:

But yeah, so that's why I'm going back and forth. But yeah, um, so it always was made to me that you know it's not your birth, it's not Christmas. Right. This is your birthday present. So we take the tree down so that you don't have to look at Christmas, you know. And um, and I am trying to do that with my granddaughter too, because she's close to Christmas. And I'm very close to Christmas. Anything red or green or anything packaging to go to her for her birthday, you know. I want to clearly say that this is your birthday present and we're done with Christmas.

Heather:

Yep. So I have I have two nephews, one on Rich's side and one on my side. And yeah, the one on Rich's side, his birthday is December, I believe December 20th. Okay. So he's just out of luck. The trees are up for him and all that. And and and I feel bad. So we always make a point of sending him a birthday present, and then we send Christmas presents as well, you know, to them. Yeah. And then my other nephew, his birthday's in January, like yours. It's a little beyond yours. So his is always cleared up by then, but we always made a point of splitting that up too, and we would send the Christmas stuff, and then we would send separately birthday stuff. Um because it's hard. I mean, I know I'm nowhere to compare it to Christmas, but my birthday being the day before Halloween, yeah, I always got merged with Halloween, you know, and and so it's it's it's weird how people don't think about that until your birthday is close to a holiday.

Zia:

Absolutely. Yep. Yeah, yep. And I think the the thing about the Christmas decorations, and I tried also to buy things not red. Um, like I love the Jersey Devils, you know, that's my team. It's red and black, and love it. Um, love my red. I have tons of it in the house, but when it's so much red out, I think my like OCD kicks in, and I'm like, this is way too much red to look at. Yeah. Um, and then I just feel like my house is messy because of it.

Heather:

I I always feel Christmas the house is cluttered. So I collect Christmas stockings and I have, I think I counted this year, I have 39 Christmas stockings, different. And I'll send you a picture. I have them up on one of the pillars. Um, side comment. Rich was talking, you know, our our air quote producer was talking about we should open up uh Instagram and send pictures of stuff we're talking about. So I know you're not big on that social media world, so I'll take care of that. But I was thinking we could do that.

Zia:

Instagram is my thing though.

Heather:

Instagram's my jam. Yep. Yep. So I was thinking we could do that. That would be kind of probably probably fun. But up on our pillar in our living room, I hung all the stockings there, or not all of them. I think I'm missing like four. I didn't have room for them, so I didn't hang like four of them. But like the living room with that, and then the tree, and then the couch and the TV and the dog crate and the dogs and the people and the carpets because we have lava floors. If you ask one of our dogs, so we have carpets all over because of the lava. So it's like all of a sudden, and our tree's only been up for a week today, and it's already starting to feel cluttered to me. So I'm looking forward now to January. Yeah. I mean, it's beautiful and I love it, but it's a lot.

Zia:

Yep. Yeah. And and I think, you know, like we bring back our seasonal depression. You know, that's another step that you have to take to clean up something you don't really want to clean up in the first place. So another step.

Heather:

I've never had a live tree all my life. We've done artificial trees.

Zia:

Yeah.

Heather:

I did them with Eliza, I did everything. Rich loves his live trees. So I have a live tree this year. And can I tell you I am literally sweeping the floor around, or I shouldn't say the floor, I'm sweeping the lava because I have to go around the carpets. I am literally sweeping it now. I feel like I'm sweeping it two or three times a day. And it's like, and I just had to water a tree. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love the plants, but I'm watering a tree in my living room.

Zia:

I I'm I'm allergic to pine trees. Okay. Didn't know this, but you know, where I'm living is not the ideal spot to have a pine tree allergy. Um, I have one right in my backyard. So one one year, Michael said, let's try to get a real tree. It'd be fun. Let's go pick one out. So we did. The kids had the experience. We went, we picked out the tree, and I was dying in the house. I'm like, oh my god, like the sneezing, the teary eyes, runny nose, everything. It smelled beautiful, but every time I had to vacuum, and then Michael said, Don't vacuum until the end. And I'm like, but the kids, they're gonna get them all over them, you know. Um, they were little. Um, I was like, oh no, this is nope, gotta go. It's gotta go. Gotta get the fake one again. Yeah.

Heather:

Yeah. I don't, I don't mind the real tree. Um, I don't really smell it. It's not a strong smell to me. I smell it when I'm near it, but when I'm in the living room, it's not that strong. So I don't know if it was just the tree. Yeah, it's not that strong to me. Um, but I'm allergic to outside, so I've been doing the honey treatment, which that'll be a conversation for another day because I'm going to we'll have to talk about that. Oh, yeah. But I'm a big honey taker. So I've been doing that since the pandemic, since the COVID break, the COVID world. Um, I've been doing a spoonful of honey every day, and um I feel like that's helping me with the pine tree. Um, but yeah. Yeah. So that brings us to getting the tree. Yeah. Yes.

Zia:

How is uh your we I know we all had snow. So how was your uh first experience with snow there in New Hampshire?

Heather:

So it's interesting. Um they do school closings and delays like you guys, you know, like in New York. Um it's on our we have closings. Well, not your school district, but you know, what is the one? Oh my gosh, what's that school district that closes? Um up by me. Well, down, yeah, down down below Albany. Um Ravena? No, Igabad Crane always closes.

Zia:

Oh, Igabad. Oh, yes, always, yeah.

Heather:

It even made it onto the Capitol District 12 days of Christmas or whatever that was. Did you ever hear that? No, I didn't. Oh, I'll have to find that. But anyway, um, so the day we went to get the tree, um, I mentioned in the last week about the drive out here in that snow squall. Yes. And how crazy that was. But last week we had a little squall and it was right as we were going to pick up the tree. So the tree was covered in snow when we got it. We put it on top of the car, we drove it here, we brought it in the house, and of course, then it dried, and there was yeah, so that was fine. But um, so then the next day we had that snowstorm, you know, or whatever it was. It was a day or two of after. Um, and um it went well. Um, I didn't go out that day. Um I had a doctor appointment, and the doctor appointment was first thing in the morning. So I was out and back before it happened, before any of the snow started coming down or whatever. Right. And um the snow plow, we got about five inches, give or take. Okay. About five inches. Um and we have a neighbor plowing for us. And he made it he made it clear when he started this that he um has a day job. So he's plowing us after work, you know, when it's convenient to kind of a thing. And we were like, don't worry about it. We'll, you know, we'll be okay. So he comes through at seven o'clock at night and plows. And uh he's we pop outside and I'm like, Thank you so much. I'm like, do you want us to move the cars? He's like, no, he's like, I'll come back in the uh tomorrow and I'll finish it. Um, but I have to go to work, so I'll come back after work. I get out of work, you know, midday, and I'm like, perfect. Absolutely. I'm like, just shoot me a text when you're coming back and I'll, you know, make sure the cars get moved so you can finish the driveway. Well, the next day is our dumpster day. Oh so he had plowed, of course, the top of the driveway. Now remember, I've mentioned this, our driveway is about a quarter mile long. Yeah. So I truly can't see our dumpster. So I get an email on the second day of the storm, like close to dinner time when the guy should be coming back from um the dumpster. And I'm like, wow, I'm like, they've sent us the invoice already. I'm like, this is a weird timing. So I open it up and it's a picture of our dumpster with a little bit of snow in front of it. And it says, We tried to move the dumpster, but there was too much snow blocking it. Now he didn't like in, he plowed around it, but there was probably about three feet of snow in front of it. Yeah. Which I don't blame him. I wouldn't have gotten any closer either. No, no. So they didn't take our garbage. And they're like, if you want us to come back, we can do a comeback fee. It will charge you the comeback fee and we can get it, or we'll be back, you know, the next garbage day, which we do every two weeks. So I'm like, what the hell?

Zia:

So when they plow, you have to go out, shovel around it so that they can take the garbage.

Heather:

Apparently, that's what I'm gonna have to do. Yeah. All right. I feel like you need to take this up with the DMV. I I should take this up with DMV. I should I should reach out to them and with Rich. Yeah. I need to bring Rich with me. Permission with Rich's permission and explain to them that I didn't really like that. Um but our driveway, um, because it's a gravel driveway, um, turned into a sheet of ice. Oh God. And um my car can't get out easily. I can get out. I just have to kind of kind of have to let myself get halfway up the hill and then let myself roll down and then do it a second time, and I can typically get out. Oh man. Um, so I'm pretty much not driving my car. Um but Amazon, um, FedEx, the post office aren't coming down our driveway because it's icy. So we need to find a way to sand a gravel driveway after it's been plowed.

Zia:

Um you need like a little um, you have to get one of those um uh grass feeders, you know, the little and and then put the salt or the sand in it and then push it down as you go, you know, behind you.

Heather:

And then that would be great, except um I'd have to push that up a hill. That's not good. No. So I'd have to go to the end of the driveway, which I can't get to.

Zia:

Right coming down. Absolutely. Absolutely. You need like a little box at the end of the driveway. We're gonna get little supplies like that.

Heather:

Yeah, we're gonna, we're gonna get that. But yeah, Rich got a picture from Amazon the other day, and it was a picture of a package leaning on our dumpster. Oh my god. And he's like, he's like, Amazon just dropped a pic a package at the dumpster. I'm like, what?

Zia:

So I jumped in my car, and I learned that yeah, because well they drop off at like three, four o'clock in the morning now, Amazon.

Heather:

And what if it yes, and what if it was a garbage day?

Zia:

Oh my god, Heather.

Heather:

So yeah, so I jumped in the car and I ran up. And that was when I learned that my car doesn't like the driveway in the winter. Oh my god. And I'm the only one in our in the house that's not a four-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. I just have a car because I I just have a car. Um, but yeah, I think my next vehicle is gonna be all-wheel drive or something. But we did have um one of our square dancing events when the storm was starting. And the the roads here are pretty good. I mean, they're pretty quick to clear them, it seems. So I'm thinking that squall that I came through when I came back on uh the day after Thanksgiving. Yeah, I think that was just like a freak squall. And and nobody knew it was coming. Um, because in in this area anyway, they seem to clear it pretty quick. Um very good.

Zia:

So I'm I'm okay with this so far, but yeah. Well, with what you've been telling me, I I feel like they have to, or they're gonna end up with ice on the roads getting compact down. So yeah.

Heather:

I I did go, I do have to tell you, I did go to Walmart. Actually, it wasn't Walmart, it was T-Mobile because they had free blankies that they were given away last Tuesday. So I did go to T-Mobile and on my way, T-Mobile's next to the Walmart, and on my way, I drive past my infamous road, dirt road, road. Yes, yes. And I'm not lying, it was clear blacktop, dry, unpaved. What it was then when I got to the dirt road part, it was unplowed, unshoveled, uncleared, yeah, unnothinged, just snowy path. I mean, it was packed from cars.

Zia:

Well, maybe maybe they're having like an argument as to whether it's the town or the DMV that take care of that road.

Heather:

Oh, I should I should go to my town hall and ask them about that. You should. You should.

Zia:

I know we keep bringing that up, but it's in my head that that happens. It is, and if you want to know that's that's an episode, I think, one, isn't it?

Heather:

Episode one, yes.

Zia:

We talked about that, yeah.

Heather:

Let me see. Is empisode one?

Zia:

Yes, yeah, DMV in New Hampshire. Yeah, yeah. So if you don't know what we're talking about, it is definitely an episode one. And we I can't see me not referencing that once an episode. Oh gosh, I love that for you. Oh so um you you had told me that um, you know, when you first moved there, all the wildlife in your yard, um, in your backyard. And how are you seeing a difference between that and winter now? Or um yes, actually.

Heather:

No, actually, it's it's it is it's it's a different it's different wildlife, sort of. Um the turkeys that we had wandering all over. I mean, we had some days we had 36 turkeys in in the group and they're gone. I don't know where they went. Um, I didn't think turkeys. Thanks, Thanksgiving. We did have Thanksgiving in between. So yeah, they're scared. Yeah. Our um Falcon, I have not seen him in a while. Okay. Um the ravens, I heard them, but I have not seen them. Seen them? Okay. Yep. And then um our coyotes, if you remember correctly, they live up on the mountain. Yeah. And we would hear them random. You know, we would hear them tonight, and then we'd hear them way off in the distance, and then way, way off in the distance, and then they'd be back close. But the other morning, I'm up, I'm up at the crack of dawn. Actually, I'm up to watch the crack of dawn. Um, so I let the two dogs out, and I come in and I hear the coyotes, and it sounds like they're literally in the backyard. Oh my goodness. So I'm like, whoa. So I holler to Rich and he's like, I think the coyotes are in the backyard. And I'm like, it sounds it. So I open the door, and of course I can't see, it's dark. Right. Um, but I can hear them, so I holler and it doesn't change anything about them. So I had a quick conversation in my head, which happens a lot, but I had a quick conversation in my head, and I'm like, I'm gonna let the dogs out because when we first moved here, we were letting the dogs bark at the coyotes up on the mountain. Right. So I opened the door wider and the two dogs went out and they stayed on the deck. They didn't go off into their area of the yard where it's fenced in. They stayed on the deck and barked like crazy. And the coyotes like stopped instantly and then started up again. And then I'm like, okay, we're in. So I brought the dogs in and we haven't heard the coyotes since, but they were so close, we could hear them in the house with the doors closed.

Zia:

Wow, and it's when we were testing you, like if they were testing the ground, and then since they heard your dog spark, they're like, Oh, okay, we gotta back off again.

Heather:

Yeah, yeah, I don't know. It was, it was. I'm gonna, I'm gonna say it was a little unnerving. I bet that they were that close.

Zia:

Yep. So yeah. Oh my goodness. Well, we all know that your dog and well, your I think it is the one that's with you. I'm not sure. No, no, I think it's Marsha. She was the scaredy cat, right? She's the scaredy cat. Okay. So we all know my dog Charlie like barks at everything. Yesterday, Santa came through on his sleigh um through the neighborhood. Yeah. And she stood by the door. The you know, sirens are going off left and right on the on the uh fire trucks. She sat there and she's watching Santa drive past the house like it was her best friend. Are you serious? I was amazed. I was like, you bark at everything and nothing. She bark at leaves. Right. And like she'll she'll bark at like nothing's there, and she thinks something's there. Sat there, cool as a cucumber, just look at Santa. Beautiful. Wow. Oh my gosh. Yep. So it was like a full-blown tribe of you know fire trucks. Yeah, I was gonna say they'll come through your neighborhoods with four or five and all that. Yep. We had two fire trucks pulled and one pulling the slide, and nope, dead silence. She's like, This is amazing, love it. It's crazy.

Heather:

In the neighborhood I lived in in New York, we didn't have a drive-through Santa, we had the walking Santa. So yeah, he walked when he got to our neighborhood. And um he was probably tired of sitting when he left your neighborhood to get to my neighborhood. Um so we had um we have a couple of cars and then we have a bunch of um kids walking with Santa through our that's how our Santa comes through in in my New York neighborhood here. Um I saw signs for it, but I didn't see or hear it. But again, we're so far off the roadbag. Yep. I don't know if he came through. I know we have um a bunch of kids in houses right around us, so I'm sure he popped through here. Um, I just don't know when it was. We're still new enough here. I need to go to DMV and ask them.

Zia:

You do.

Heather:

It's very catchy. I'll have to go to DMV and ask them about it. That's right. Oh, I got my license, it came in the mail yesterday. Oh, that's great. Yeah.

Zia:

So that's awesome. So you're official now.

Heather:

I am official. I don't have my license plate yet. I'm still driving around with a paper license plate.

Zia:

Okay, that's nice for the winter time.

Heather:

Oh my god. On that note, I think we should probably wrap it up. Absolutely. I'm not sure anybody's gonna get anything out of the rest of this conversation.

Zia:

No, uh, although it would be funny. It would be funny. It would be, yes. I mean, yeah, yeah. So we're gonna do next week again. We're gonna try.

Heather:

We are, and there may be secret poppin' guest. Yes, maybe. Not a secret Santa, a secret guest, not a secret Santa, a secret guest. Yep. Um I'm going to see. She's she's gonna listen to this, so I don't want to say much, but I'm going to see if someone will join us. I feel like she would love it. Um, but I can almost hear the words coming out of her mouth. Ah, you know, something really, really, I'm not doing that. And then I'll be like, what? Anyway, so tune in next week to see who our secret guest is. Yes, and grab your coffee and join us. Yes, that's what I'm just finishing my cup. I don't know about you. Mine too. Mine too. All right. Well, all right. Thanks for joining us in. Do we love that for you? Do we love that for you?

Zia:

Do we?

Heather:

I loved a few things for you today.

Zia:

I did, and I loved a few things for you too. Yep.

Heather:

Yeah, that makes it all worthwhile.

Zia:

Yes, it does.

Heather:

All right, until next time. Love you.

Zia:

Bye.

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Heather Dominelli

Host
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Zia Markowski

Host